This book arose from far too many queries addressed to me in the past 10 years by behavioural or evolutionary ecologists: ‘If I wanted to learn to model, what book should I read?’ I could not give a straightforward answer to this question, and neither could I choose a course book to cover modelling in behavioural or evolutionary ecology at a beginner's level for the courses I have been teaching. There are many books available that delve into particular methods, but grabbing them requires that one knows a priori that the particular method will be useful. I was looking for a book that would provide a gentle enough introduction for people who might range from keen undergraduates to experienced researchers, but share one thing in common: no hands-on experience with mathematical modelling so far. I found some very good texts for population ecologists, but nothing similar for evolutionary or behavioural ecologists.

This book is an attempt to fill in this gap. My intention is not to provide full coverage of all mathematical tools used in evolutionary studies today – that would be far too much to ask from a volume of this size. Instead, my intention is to present an entry-level ‘toolbox’ for those people who lack nothing but a kick-start to add modelling techniques to their repertoire of scientific skills.